


Let me in your room, let me in your heart

by nickwritesstuff



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Bad Parenting, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Canon, Sharing a Bed, Slow Build, Weight Issues, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-14 15:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18055151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickwritesstuff/pseuds/nickwritesstuff
Summary: Jared didn't want to go on this school trip, but his mother forced him to. It didn't help that his single bed room is already occupied by none other than Evan Hansen. How will they deal with this situation?





	1. Settling in

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for clicking.  
> A few things:  
> \- English is not my first language,  
> \- I didn't write in Evan's stuttering,  
> \- it's still a work in progress, but it'll be only 4 chapters long - 5, if you people will want an epilogue:)
> 
> Please enjoy!:)

~~~~

Jared _knew_ he should've stayed home. _"_ _It's_ _your last_ _school_ _trip,_ _Jared",_ who cares? But his mom threw him out of the house with a backpack full of clothes and a quick "see you in four days!".

He knew he should've stayed home, because when they arrived at the "hotel" - if you could even call it that, - something was wrong. His room wasn't empty.

Now, Jared came because there was an opportunity for him to sleep alone without a roommate. He hated sharing a room, especially with his classmates. They were immature, always drunk, and fucking annoying. But now on _his_ bed, there was a backpack, half empty, and next to it...

Next to the bag sat Evan Hansen, looking scared with a shirt in his hand, and **fuck** he must've just took it off, because he definitely wasn't wearing one, and-

"Um sorry." Evan mumbled, blushing. He quickly put on a new shirt, and finally looked at Jared, who just froze.

"That's my room." Jared said, still in shock, because honestly, how was Evan's body so... beautiful? He wasn't muscular at all, but his white skin was almost glowing, his blush creeped down onto his chest, and he had freckles on his shoulders. _Freckles._

"What, no!" Evan's brows raised. "It's mine. This was the only reason I came."

"Mood." Jared made a face, throwing his bag on the floor. "I'll ask a teacher what's going on."

Obviously the hotel messed up everything. Evan was late to sign up for the trip, and they threw him in Jared's room by accident. He went to the reception, but they couldn't do anything, and honestly, he'd rather sleep with Evan-- **in** ** **the**** ** ** **same****** ** ** ** **room******** ** ** ** ** **as********** ** ** ** ** ** **Evan************ than with any of his other classmates.

"So the hotel fucked it up." he said as he slammed the door of his- their room. "And they literally don't have a guest bed, which is great since there is no fucking space for one anyway."

He wasn't exaggerating, the not too big bed and a closet filled the tiny room to the point where there was barely any space for them to even stand.

"Okay, I guess I'll just go." Evan mumbled, picking up his stuff.

"Wait, what?" Jared's eyes widened.

"I'll go to another room, you obviously want to sleep alone, so..."

"Fuck off, you're staying." he rolled his eyes, taking Evan's backpack, throwing it onto the bed. "You really don't want to be in the same room as the others... Well, unless you want to stay awake all night and smell like booze and weed."

He pushed Evan to the bed so he could reach the closet.

"We've shared a bed before, haven't we?" Jared smiled as he placed his bag in the closet. He didn't look at Evan, but he knew the taller boy nodded. Jared smiled at the memory.

_His dad threw him out so he could argue with his mom in peace_ __._ _ ___On_ _ _ ____days_ _ _ _ _____like_ _ _ _ _ ______this,_ _ _ _ _ _ _______Jared_ _ _ _ _ _ _ ________always_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _went to the Hansen household. Heidi made them hot cocoa, and since there was no space, he slept in Evan's bed. They were up until midnight, counting the stars that were shining outside of the tiny window._

"Yeah. When we were like six." Evan sighed, and Jared whistled.

"Twelve years ago. Damn." he finally turned around and sat down next to Evan. "We're old."

"You're an idiot." Evan rolled his eyes, making Jared laugh.

"A tired idiot." he shrugged, kicking off his shoes.

"It's 8PM." Evan huffed. Jared just shrugged, and grabbed a shirt he could sleep in. And suddenly he was facing with another problem.

When Jared was at home, he never wore pants to sleep. He hated them, so he always slept in boxers. And since he thought he was going to sleep alone, he didn't bring any pants either - except his jeans.

"You okay?" Evan asked, making Jared snap out of it. Fuck, now he was blushing. How do you tell your crush you treat like garbage that you're gonna sleep in the same bed as him without pants?

"Um..." Jared closed his eyes, waiting a few seconds. God, this was possibly the most embarrassing thing he'd ever done. _Calm_ _ _down,__ _ _ _Kleinman,___ _ _ _ _you____ _ _ _ _ _can_____ _ _ _ _ _ _do______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _this._______ "I... Didn't-"

Okay, no, there was no way he could do this. He was way too tired to act like his confident self; this was the main reason he didn't want to share a room. But he had to do something, or else Evan was going to find out things he really shouldn't.

"I didn't brought any pants, do you want me to sleep in my jeans?" he managed to ask with only one voice break at the word ' _pants_ '. Evan blushed, and shook his head.

"No, it's okay." the taller boy stuttered, still sitting on the bed, cross-legged, backpack in his lap. "It's bad enough that I'm the reason you can't sleep alone."

Jared rolled his eyes, but didn't say a word. Instead he took a deep breath and changed his shirt with inhuman speed, facing away from Evan. He was never quite happy with his body, and he hated changing in front of people, but he really didn't want to go all the way to the other side of the hotel, where the toilets and showers were placed. He wiggled out of his pants, and quickly slid under the covers, pushing Evan a bit in the process.

There was another problem though. The bed was fucking smaller than it looked. There was no way they were gonna be comfortable.

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" he sat up. Evan's eyes widened, and he shook his head.

"I don't think there's enough place on the floor." he muttered. "But not because you're fat, because you're not, I mean you're pretty... Ehm pretty average weight and I should stop talking."

"I regret that day when I told you that." Jared laughed. Yes, he could remember clearly.

_It was summer. He and Evan were both around thirteen or fourteen_ __, and it was_ _ ___boiling_ _ _ ____,_ _ _ _ ___so Evan_ _ _ _invited him to the beach._

_"I don't wanna go." Jared said, torturing the hem of his shirt._

_"Come on,_ _Jare_ _, it's so hot outside!" Evan whined._

_"I said I don't want to,_ __Ev!_ _ _" Jared snapped. "The people on the beach are always... Laughing at me, my weight, and I'm sick of it! So drop it."_

_Jared didn't feel like an asshole until Evan surprised him with a small pool people buy for their kids to stop whining._

_"There aren't any people who'd laugh at you_ ___here.___ _" Evan grinned while his mom filled the pool._

Jared smiled at the memory. That day he realized that Evan was really his friend, and that he was very much in love with said friend.

"I'm sorry." Evan mumbled, standing up to change as well.

"Nah, don't be. It was a nice day." Jared flopped back to the bed, forcing himself to not look at Evan while he was changing. He really didn't want to deal with a boner as well.

"...it was?" Evan asked after a few quiet moments. Jared raised his brows.

"For me, it was." he shrugged as Evan finished changing and layed down next to him. Yeah, the bed was definitely too small for two eighteen year olds, but Jared couldn't say he didn't like it.

"I mean, I didn't think you liked it, but... But I liked it too, it was cool. Well, not cool, because it was boiling, but..." Evan started rambling, making Jared laugh softly.

"I get it." he smiled, looking at Evan. He really shouldn't have though. The other boy was facing him as well, and thanks to the tiny bed, their faces were only an inch apart, and Jared could see his eyes from up close for probably the first time.

"Good night, Jared." Evan broke the silence, turning off the light. The only good thing about having a small room was that they didn't have to get up: the light switch was next to the bed.

"Night, Evan."

 


	2. Ice cream, you scream (in your head)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go to the zoo with the class.  
> Warning for some homophobia towards the guys.

Sleeping in the same bed with Evan was an experience. Jared didn't know the taller boy was a cuddler, and yet, there he was. Laying in a shitty hotel bed, Evan's arms around his waist, the blond boy's face buried in the crook of his neck. Hell, even their legs were a tangled mess.

Jared carefully reached for his phone next to the bed, checking the time. 5:58AM. Great, their alarms were set to 7AM, which meant one more hour of cuddling. _Cool,_ Jared thought, still half-asleep. He liked this. Evan was warm, and nice, and he wasn't snoring, and Jared wanted to stay here forever. He put his phone down, carefully pulling Evan closer. He smiled as the tall boy's arms around his waist tightened. Yes, this felt nice.

He woke up again to a loud yelp and a _thud._ He searched for his glasses, trying to figure out what was happening. When the room around him was finally clear, he was facing with Evan, who was sitting on the floor, shocked.

"What now?" Jared murmured, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't-" Evan started, but got cut short by the first beats of All Star coming from Jared's phone.

"Fuck this." Jared groaned, turning off the alarm. "Do you know what're we doing today?" he faced Evan, who was still sitting on the floor, blushing. "You okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. Um. I think we're going to the zoo?" Evan made a face, standing up.

"Great. What better way to spend time than to watch these idiots try to give cigarettes to monkeys?" Jared stretched, letting the blanket fall from his chest. A loud knock on the door, and the teacher's hurried _"_ _ _Wake__ _ _ _up,___ _ _ _ _boys, we're____ _ _ _ _ _leaving_____ _ _ _ _ _ _in______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _an_______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _hour!"________ made Jared roll his eyes.

"Um..." Evan started quietly. "Maybe if today we go to the zoo, and at the end of the day you act like you're sick, you can stay here tomorrow."

"That's... Actually smart." Jared raised his brows. "Okay, let's get this over with!"

The zoo was starting out awful. Jared's classmates were indeed trying to torture the animals, taking selfies with them... But then his teacher said they could go and explore the zoo alone, and Jared suddenly felt better. He looked at Evan, who was standing on the other side of their group, not making eye contact with anyone. Jared sighed.

"Yo, Tree boy, you're coming?" he asked when he got near to Evan. The taller boy's eyes lit up as he nodded. Maybe this was going to be fun after all.

"Jared, look at him!" Evan smiled, pointing at a polar bear who was busy playing with a box in the water.

"You didn't name him, did you?" Jared grinned. "We can't take him home."

"You really wanna stand between me and Snowflake?" Evan raised his brow, trying to look serious. He looked adorable instead.

"Snowflake? Not your best work." Jared snorted.

"Hey, excuse me?" a woman with a little boy stopped them. "My kid is right here."

"Okay?" Jared furrowed his brows. He saw Evan was getting really uncomfortable.

" _Okay_? Are you serious? He's gonna turn out like you two." the woman said, raising her voice.

"What do you mean?" Jared shook his head, trying to shield Evan from the woman.

"Faggots!" the woman cried, holding his son's hand. "My son will be a fag if that's what he sees everywhere!"

Jared was never really good at staying quiet. If he was thinking something, he usually said it without thinking. That's the reason he raised his brow, and instead of denying it, he said "Then how did I turn out gay if I've seen straights everywhere? You're so ignorant it hurts. I feel sorry for your son."

The woman angrily left them, dragging her son after herself.

"What a jerk." Jared rolled his eyes, looking at Evan. "Are you okay?"

"You're gay?" Evan asked instead of giving an answer. Jared went pale.

"Um... Why?" he scratched the back of his neck. Gosh, he really didn't want to come out to Evan this way... Or at all.

"No, I- I'm okay with it, like I may be uhh bi, so yeah, it's... um, cool." Evan stuttered. Jared froze.

"What?" he closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to process this. Evan Hansen, tree lover Evan Hansen, cute and anxious Evan Hansen was bisexual? Damn, this gave him false hope again. Great. "I mean okay, that's fine. Wanna grab some ice cream?"

Evan nodded, looking slightly confused. Jared grinned, showing him everything was okay before he scanned the area, looking for an ice cream stand.

"There it is!" he spotted it finally, already hurrying towards it. "Come on, Evan. Ice creeeaaam." he laughed at the blond boy's confusion.

They finally got their ice creams after a quick fight - Jared insisted on paying for both of them, but Evan didn't want to let him. Jared won. Obviously.

"Why do you think that lady acted like that?" Evan asked, eating his strawberry ice cream. Jared didn't need to ask who's he talking about, he knew this was about the woman from earlier.

"I have no idea." he confessed, trying not to make a mess out of his mint flavoured ice cream.

"You have ice cream all over your face." Evan laughed, making Jared blush. He quickly wiped his face, while hoping most of the mess was gone.

"Better?" Jared looked at Evan, making a fishface.

"You still have some on your cheek." Evan giggled. Jared wanted to bury himself on the spot, but since this was not an option, he just tried to wipe the ice cream off his face. "No, on the left. A bit to the right... Ah, let me just..."

And then Evan stepped closer to Jared, taking his face in his hand that wasn't holding that damn strawberry ice cream, and quickly wiped off the mess from Jared's - probably red - cheek.

"Oh. Thanks." Jared said, after looking at Evan for who knows how long. They were still standing so close to each other...

"GAAAY!" one of their classmates appeared next to them, making the boys flinch and step back.

"Not as gay as your face." Jared flipped him off, continuing his walk with Evan. "When are we supposed to see the others?"

"Um." Evan looked at his dangerously old phone. "In two hours."

"You wanna go check out the giraffes?" Jared grinned, and Evan nodded happily.

The day was indeed fun. A giraffe licked Evan's hand, making the boys laugh hysterically, earning some disapproving looks from older people. When they had to go back to the group, Jared faked a stomachache, earning a day at the hotel almost alone. The teacher insisted that Evan should stay with him in case he gets worse.

"So that was cool." Jared smiled when they got back to their room. They changed and took out some sandwiches they bought in front of the zoo, sitting on the bed next to each other.

"Yeah. Who knew you were such a great actor?" Evan laughed. "I almost believed you weren't feeling good."

"Why, thank you." Jared grinned. "Shouldn't actors get flowers from their fans though?" he tried not to look like he immediately regretted the comment.

"I'll buy you some tomorrow, Mr Kleinman." Evan bit into his sandwich. Jared laughed, feeling happier than usual.

"Oh, you really don't have to, Mr Hansen." he placed a hand theatrically on his chest. "Your role of the worried friend was truly exceptional."

Evan laughed, looking a little red. Gosh, his laugh was adorable. Not that anxious giggle, but his real heartfelt laugh, when he closed his eyes and threw his head back. Jared smiled softly.

"It's getting late." Evan said when they stopped joking around. "I'm tired."

"And here I thought being near to the nature would make you energised, Tree boy." Jared smirked. Evan stuck out his tongue.

"Good night, Jare." Evan said softly after turning off the lights. Jared's heart skipped a beat when he heard the old nickname.

"Good night, Ev." he smiled, drifting off to sleep.


	3. Two friends on a perfect day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys spend the day together. Terrible coffee, heartfelt conversations and crying over musicals.

Waking up was similar to yesterday. Evan was hugging Jared in his sleep, but now Jared's arms were around Evan as well.

"Morning." he yawned, poking Evan's cheek that was incredibly close. This time Jared didn't panic at all.

"Wha-" Evan opened his eyes slowly, then suddenly pushed himself back. "Oh god, I'm so sorry!"

"Wait." the realisation hit Jared. "Is this why you were so freaked out yesterday?"

"Well... I mean... Maybe?" Evan blushed. "Why are you _not_ freaked out?"

"Dude, I'm gay, I hug people all the time." Jared joked, trying to avoid answering the question.

"Very funny." Evan rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten." Jared checked his phone with one arm still around Evan. "Weird, I never sleep this much."

"Maybe it's the lack of coffee." Evan shrugged. "Speaking of coffee, you wanna get some? I saw a café nearby."

Jared's eyes lit up at the mention of caffeine. "Fuck yes. I miss my sweet dirty bean water."

"Please never call coffee that again. Like ever." Evan laughed. "We should get up."

"Yep." Jared closed his eyes, not moving a muscle. "Any minute now."

"Come on, Jare!" Evan laughed, waking up the butterflies in Jared's stomach.

"Okay, mom." Jared grinned, finally releasing Evan. He tried not to be disappointed by that. After putting on some pants and a fresh shirt, he looked at his friend, who was already in his khakis. "Let's go!"

The café was nearly empty, the walls were a hideous shade of vomit green, and the barista was at least a hundred years old. They had to repeat their order twice before they could pay and sit down on the chairs that looked like they were about to collapse.

"Well, this place sure is... charming." Evan looked around, probably trying to find something worth looking at.

"Yeah. I especially adore the lovely color scheme." Jared grinned, shifting uncomfortably on the chair, placing his hands on the table between him and Evan. "And the dead plants. It's very metaphorical, y'know?"

"Your coffees are ready." the barista yelled, slamming to cups on the counter. The boys looked at each other, and burst out laughing at the same time.

"I'll go get them." Evan stood up, making his way towards the coffees. Jared totally didn't check out his ass. Okay, he did.

"Here you go. Enough caffeine to kill a smaller village." Evan placed a __triple__ expresso in front of Jared.

"Thanks." Jared took a sip. He almost spit it out when instead of bitterness, the drink tasted... salty. "This is possibly the worst coffee I've ever had."

"What, it can't be that bad!" Evan furrowed his brows before taking a sip of his cappuccino. His face looked like he was considering spitting out the coffee and admitting defeat, or swallow it.

"Well?" Jared smiled 'sweetly' as Evan finally gulped.

"It... Has a character." he managed to choke out. Jared burst into laughter, and after a moment Evan joined him.

"Can we go now?" Jared shivered after downing his coffee. Caffeine is caffeine. "I wanna go for a walk."

"What are you, a dog?" Evan laughed before standing up, and heading to the exit. Jared followed, smiling. Evan was finally feeling comfortable around him. It made Jared feel warm inside.

"Woof." he said, raising his brow. Evan snorted. It was adorable.

They headed to a park nearby. It looked nice enough, not too many people, but a lot of trees. Jared smiled at Evan when he saw the taller boy's face lit up.

"Oh my gosh, this is a taxus floridana! Jared, look at it!" Evan explained with shining eyes. "These are nearly extinct, and one's right here!"

Evan grinned, looking at Jared, who was still smiling at his friend with a soft expression.

"That's cool." he laughed awkwardly when he realized he was staring at Evan.

"Hey, um..." Evan started fidgeting with his hands. "Thanks for being there. And- and listening to me."

"You're... welcome?" Jared said, well, asked rather confused.

"I mean most people, um from class, or even mom sometimes hate when I talk." Evan turned to the tree, examining it's bark. "And times like that, I feel annoying as hell."

"You're not-" Jared, started, but Evan cut him off.

"But not when I'm with you." he smiled. "Last year I messed up a lot of things with a lot of people. And I nearly lost you, fuck, I did lose you!"

"But you apologized. Ten times a day." Jared huffed, placing a hand on Evan's shoulder. "And I forgave you."

"I just don't want it to happen again." Evan shrugged, taking the hand on his shoulder, letting their linked hands fall between them. "So thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, Ev." Jared sighed as he pulled on Evan's hand, turning the taller boy around so now they were facing each other. "I fucked up some things as well. Ever since high school started, I've been treating you like shit, and you didn't deserve it. Nobody deserves that."

Evan just shrugged, so Jared tightened his grip on his hand. "Right, okay." Evan huffed.

"I'll keep repeat that until you believe it. Or until we die." Jared smirked, making Evan smile.

"Gotta love the realism." the blond boy huffed, dropping Jared's hand. "The others will be back soon. They should find us in our room." he stated as he checked his phone.

"Aah I don't wanna." Jared stretched. "This was such a cool day!" he smiled at Evan, who grinned back.

"Then we'll repeat it when we get home." the taller boy shrugged. "Come on."

As soon as they got back to their room, Jared slipped under the blankets just in case somebody decided to check on him. As he suspected, a few minutes later there was a quiet knock on the door. He pulled the blanket over his head, and motioned Evan to check who's out there.

"Hi." Jared heard his teacher's voice. "Is Jared okay?"

"Yes, he'll be fine, sir." Evan answered. He sounded so uncomfortable, Jared wanted to jump out of the bed.

"Okay. If anything happens, I'm right at the end of the hallway." their teacher said quietly.

"Thank you, sir." Evan probably nodded, and the door closed. "I never want to do that again." Evan hopped on the bed - and a little on Jared.

"Sorry." he grinned, poking his head out of the blanket. "But you were great."

"Uh... Thanks." Evan laughed awkwardly, and Jared was almost positive the taller boy was blushing.

"Hey, do you wanna watch Falsettos and cry?" Jared asked, reaching for his phone.

"I'll never say no to this." Evan grinned as he got under the blanket as well.

"If you wanna watch Hamilton, just say so." Jared laughed, opening YouTube on his phone. "Bootlegs playlist, here we are."

Two and a half our later the boys were sitting in bed, both of them tearing up.

"That was a terrible idea." Evan let out a sob. Jared laughed through his tears, throwing another tissue at his friend.

"Bitch, that was a great idea." he wiped his eyes quickly.

"Fair enough, I don't think I've ever seen you cry this much." Evan smirked as Jared made an offended noise.

"I wasn't crying." he rolled his eyes.

"Yes you were. You were crying manly tears." Evan laughed, and Jared simply pushed him off the bed. "Hey!"

"You deserved it." Jared giggled, offering Evan a hand. "Come back, you jerk."

"Yeah, _I'm_ the jerk." Evan laughed, taking Jared's hand, and pulling the shorter boy down with a quick motion.

"Ouch! Yes you are!" Jared laughed, which disappeared as soon as he realized their... situation. Evan was laying on the ground, still holding Jared's right hand. Jared was on top of Evan, trying to hold himself up with one arm, failing miserably. "Let me go." he blushed when he heard his voice came out at least an octave higher than normally.

"Okay, okay." Evan smiled, probably not noticing their pose. He let go of Jared's hand, letting Jared roll off of Evan.

"What time will we leave tomorrow?" Jared asked, laying next to Evan.

"Around 8AM. Do we pack now, or just wake up earlier tomorrow?" Evan looked at Jared, eyes still shiny and a bit red.

"Pack now. I'm not tired yet." Jared shrugged, sitting up. "Even though my arm hurts like hell." he laughed, looking at Evan.

"You deserved it." he rolled his eyes, smiling. "It doesn't really hurt, does it?"

"Nah, I'll live." Jared stood up, and started throwing his stuff into his backpack. "It's weird how it's already over. Feels like we arrived yesterday."

"Yeah." Evan get up as well. "It... Won't change. Right?"

Jared didn't have to ask, Evan was probably thinking about the mood between them. These last few days were awesome, and not because of the place. It was because he and Evan were acting like friends again. Just like before high school.

"It won't." Jared looked at Evan seriously. "And if it will, I'll give you permission to hit me in the face."

"Aw, now I kinda want it to change." Evan made a face, making Jared laugh.

"You're awful." Jared rolled his eyes, closing his backpack.

"You love me." Evan grinned, making Jared's stomach flip. Jared knew he meant it as a friend, but it still felt weird.

"Yeah I do." he said finally as he layed down on the bed.

"Oh." Evan choked out after a minute of silence that worried Jared.

"What?" he looked up. Evan was staring at him, face red, holding a shirt.

"Oh, um." Evan looked like he snapped out of it. "I... Love you too, Jare."

That's it. Jared was gonna die in a shitty hotel on the last day of a school trip. Cause of death: Evan Hansen.

"Good to know." Jared forced a grin, trying not to look like he was about to pass out.

"I think I'm done." Evan looked around, holding his - now full - bag.

"You forgot your shirt." Jared spotted a pile of blue fabric poking out from under the bed. He pulled it out, and threw it to Evan, who mumbled a quick _thank you_ before tucking it into the bag as well.

Now the only things in the room were their pyjamas, their phones and two bags at the end of the bed. They changed quickly before laying down on the bed, facing each other.

"Sweet dreams, Ev." Jared smiled, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

"You too, Jare."


	4. I promised, didn't I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter! The boys go home, but they still spend some quality time together.

When Jared opened his eyes and saw Evan so close to him, his first thought was that he didn't want to go home. He was gonna miss the warmth next to him, _around_ him every morning. He smiled sadly, and put a hand on Evan's cheek.

"Boys, we're leaving in an hour!" their teacher's voice and rapid knocking ruined the moment. Evan opened his eyes, blinked a few times and let go of Jared's waist.

"Morning." he mumbled, voice deep and raspy, and holy shit, Jared was going to faint.

"Morning." he choked out, sitting up on the bed. He yawned, and quickly got dressed. When he turned around, Evan was staring at him weirdly.

"What?" he furrowed his brows, slightly covering himself even though he was fully clothed now.

"Oh, I- sorry, I was just trying to figure out what you hate about yourself." Evan rushed out, face red. Jared was still looking at him, now slightly embarrassed. What was he supposed to say to that?

"Did you succeed?" he managed to ask without a voice break. He threw his shirt into his bag, not looking at Evan.

"No." he heard the taller boy's voice. He turned around, surprised. "You look pretty damn good. No homo." Evan laughed a little, still sitting on the bed.

"You should get dressed too." Jared almost yelled, afraid his normal voice might reveal something to Evan he shouldn't know. Did Evan really think Jared looked _pretty_ _ _damn__ _ _ _good___? How? Why? **How**? Was this flirting? Why was Evan's face just as red as his own? There were too many questions.

"Jared?" Evan waved a hand in front of Jared's face, now in his streetwear. "You totally zoned out." the blond boy let out a huff, but he still looked worried.

"Yeah, I was thinking about the trip." he lied, forcing a smile. "It was fun."

"Oh. Yeah, it was." Jared felt like Evan's smile lit up the room. Oh, Jared was screwed. And seriously in love. Same difference. "Maybe..." Evan didn't finish the sentence, instead started playing with the hem of his shirt.

"Maybe what?" Jared asked, hopeful. He didn't know what he wanted to hear. Probably just Evan.

"Maybe we could go on a trip in the summer break? Just the two of us?" Evan rather asked than said. "I mean it's okay if not, I just thought it'd be n-"

"Sounds cool." Jared grinned, making Evan's eyes shine even brighter. "Maybe in July? I'm not going to camp this year anyways."

Evan nodded, still smiling. Jared couldn't look away from him, he was... Beautiful? Perfect? There was no proper word for him. He was Evan.

"It's a date." Jared said without thinking, then added a quick "No homo." with red face.

"Yeah, okay, awesome." Evan stuttered, smiling.

"Let's go." Jared picked up his backpack, and handed Evan his as well.

The road home was fairly boring. It took half an hour longer because of the traffic, so when the boys weren't talking to each other on the bus, they were listening to musicals on Jared's phone, sharing the earbuds, or playing Flappy Bird.

After an hour of being on the bus (which felt much longer to Jared,) they hopped off, and stopped on the pavement. Their houses were on the same street, but in opposite directions. Jared gave Evan a smile and a typical bro-hug before heading home.

When he got home, his mother was nowhere to be seen. Knowing her, she probably forgot about him again. He shrugged, and opened the fridge to try to find some food or anything.

"This'll do." he pulled out a bottle of champagne. His mom didn't drink much, only when she brought home some guy while Jared wasn't home. That explained why she wanted Jared to go on the trip in the first place. He didn't bother getting a glass. He'd drink the whole thing alone anyways.

After about an hour, the bottle was fully empty, while Jared's head was full. Yeah, full of Evan. He missed him already. Wait, he could just call him over. Yeah, that's a good idea. He pulled out his phone and opened Messenger.

_**TheInsanelyCoolJK:** _ _yo_

___**TheInsanelyCoolJK**___ ** _ _:__** ___Evam___

_____**TheInsanelyCoolJK**_____ ** _ _ _ _:____** _____moms_____ _ _ _ _ _ _not______ ________hoem________

________**TheInsanelyCoolJK**________ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _:_______** ________wanan________ _________come_________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ober__________

___________**TreeBoy**___________ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _:___________** ____________Are____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _you_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _drunk?______________

_______________**TheInsanelyCoolJK**_______________ ** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _:______________** _______________probaaly_______________

________________**TreeBoy** _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ **________________:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ** ________________..._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________________I'm_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __________________on_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___________________my_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________________way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

He didn't have to wait too much, after a few minutes Evan knocked on the door.

"C'min." Jared yelled, sitting down to the couch. He closed his eyes, so he only heard Evan come in and felt Evan's body next to him.

"What the hell have you done?" Evan took the empty bottle out of Jared's hand, which made Jared open his eyes.

"I drank." he said, feeling proud that he could answer the question. "A lot."

Evan sighed. He stood up and started to clean up the drops of alcohol from the coffee table. "I noticed."

"It's better now." Jared layed down on the couch where Evan was previously sitting. "Now that you're here."

"You know what would be even better?" Evan asked, standing next to Jared. "If you were in your bed."

"Kinky." Jared grinned, making Evan blush.

"Jared!" he covered his face with his hands. "I officially hate you when you're drunk."

"So you love me when I'm not?" Jared asked as he reached out to move Evan's hands from his face.

"I've already told you that. Come on, let's go to bed." Evan mumbled, pulling Jared up from the couch. Jared's bedroom wasn't too far, so they managed to get there without falling. Jared was very proud of that.

"Stay?" Jared asked as he fell into his bed. It was bigger than the one they shared in the hotel, and it was much more comfortable. Evan seemed to hesitate, so Jared sat up, grabbed his arms, and pulled the taller boy onto himself.

"Ouch." Evan tried to not break Jared's ribs as he was laying on top of him.

"Yeah, not my best idea." Jared huffed as he curled an arm around Evan. "I'll take it back."

"At least let me roll off of you." Evan laughed quietly. "And I'd like to take off my shoes, if that's fine with you."

"Imma give you... One minute." Jared let go of Evan, who immediately got up and kicked off his shoes. He then lied down next to Jared, facing his friend.

"Better." the blond boy smiled.

"Definitely." Jared grinned, placing a hand on Evan's cheek. "You're pretty."

"Uh thank you." Evan blinked. "You should sleep now, okay?"

"Will you be here when I wake up? Mom won't be." Jared bit his lower lip. He was pretty sure Evan was looking at the motion.

"I promise I will." he finally said, and Jared drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

_Thud._

__Thud._ _

__Thud._ _

Jared slowly opened his eyes. His head hurt like hell, and there was a noise in his ears that sounded like someone was drumming. Great.

He tried to sit up, but a pair of arms held him down. Jared looked over to the other side of the bed. He totally didn't start to hyperventilate when he saw Evan. He was still asleep, hugging Jared like he did for three nights, and Jared slowly calmed himself down. It was just Evan.

He looked around the room, and found a glass of water on the nightstand. After a few seconds of searching, he found some Aspirin as well. He took the medicine, and leaned back, waiting for it to work.

"You feeling better?" Evan's voice was soft, but it still startled him.

"Nah." Jared shrugged. "Mom's still not home, right?"

Evan sadly shook his head. "I didn't hear her come in."

"That's fine. I've gotten used to it." Jared tried to smile, but he felt hot tears pooling in his eyes. "Fuck."

"Jared, it's... It's not fine. I see you're not fine." Evan said. "But it's fine to cry. And I'm here if you need me."

Jared tried to blink away the tears, but after hearing that, he let out a sob. "I'm so fucking sick of this." he explained, holding onto Evan. "She's never home, because she wants to get laid so desperately, how fucked up is that? My own mom doesn't know me."

Evan didn't say anything, and he didn't have to. It was perfect like this. Jared hugged Evan tightly, trying to even out his breathing by listening to Evan's heartbeat.

"Thanks." Jared said after five minutes or so. He finally calmed down, and he knew he looked disgusting, but he was too drained out to care.

"That's what friends are for." Evan smiled as he let go of Jared. "Do you want some tea or something?"

"Coffee. Real, not shitty coffee." Jared said, smiling when Evan laughed and headed out of the room. Jared followed him.

"So... Do you wanna do something?" Evan asked a few minutes later. They were on the couch, their drinks on the coffee table in front of them.

"I dunno. Kinda wanna get out of here." Jared shrugged. Evan quickly agreed, he was probably getting sick of being inside.

They headed to the mall, and since it was pretty late, the building was nearly empty.

"I wanna go there." Evan stopped suddenly, pointing at a flower shop.

"Why?" Jared laughed, following his friend.

"I did promise you flowers." Evan said, already looking for a flower pot. Jared ran his hand over his hair, trying not to look so damn lovesick. "How's this?" Evan pointed at a plant with huge leafs and beautiful white... Flowers? Jared gave him a thumbs up, and Evan smiled.

"Hi, can I help you with something?" a girl from behind the counter asked.

"Yes, um we'd like this Peace Lily." Evan stuttered, but managed to stay understandable.

"Sure thing." the girl smiled widely, and a few minutes later Jared was holding his new flower in a not too big pot. He was staring at it for a while before looking up at Evan.

"Are you okay?" Evan asked, and Jared gulped. Oh, he was about to do this.

When Jared was fourteen, he realized he was in love with his best friend. When he was fifteen, he tried to distance himself from Evan, but Evan was there for him through every weak bullying attempt he hated. When he was seventeen, he successfully ruined their friendship if you could even call it that. And when he was eighteen, after a year of rebuilding the walls that have been destroyed, he was staring at Evan with a flower in his hands.

And he was considering saying those three words that made his life a living hell since high school started.

"Jare?" Evan looked worried. "Do you not like the flower? Is it too much? You don't have to-"

"I love it." Jared blurted out. "And you."

Evan blinked a few times. "I don't understand."

"I- I love you. I have been since high school started." Jared closed his eyes to gather more strength. "That's why I was an ass back then. Cause I was scared. And now we're friends again, and I love it so fucking much, but here you are, being all cute, sleeping next to me, buying me a flower in a pot, and... and I want more."

"Oh thank god." Evan whispered before carefully hugging Jared, trying not to kill the Peace Lily. "I've been crushing on you for months." he explained happily. Jared stood there, completely frozen.

"Holy shit." he choked out, finally wrapping his free arm around Evan, burying his face in the crook of his neck.

"Yeah." Evan huffed, not letting go of Jared. Jared felt so safe and warm and _happy._ "Hey. You said our friendship won't change."

Jared's eyes widened as he pulled back. "Um sorry?"

"And you said if it does, I'll get to hit you in the face." Evan said. "Can I maybe do that with my mouth?"

"You are an absolute jerk." Jared laughed, calming down. Evan wasn't angry of him. Then he realized what the other boy said. "Wait, what?"

"Can I kiss you?" Evan asked, now a bit less confident. Jared laughed as he nodded. Evan took Jared's glasses off, and leaned in.

There were no fireworks, no sparks, and since it was Jared's first kiss in a really long time, it was incredibly awkward. But it still felt perfect, because it was Evan who was kissing him, and it was everything and more he'd ever thought.

Jared knew they should've talked about their new relationship - was it even a relationship? But he didn't want to rush anything. It was enough that Evan kissed him every five minutes, and that they found the perfect place for his Peace Lily, and that Evan stayed the night so Jared didn't have to sleep alone.

It was enough that he could kiss Evan goodnight and say "See you in the morning", and he got a soft "I love you" in response. Yes, this was enough. Evan was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. God.   
> I can't believe it's already over! This is officially the longest fanfiction I've ever written. I'm going to miss this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. See y'all next time!:)


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